Lois McClure schooner to dock at Troy

TROY -- Inside the hull of the Lois McClure, a replica mid-nineteenth century schooner is a cargo box labeled "TROY N.Y." The label pays homage to the city's place in a maritime world of a bygone era, and although the replica schooner does not carry the cargo or engage in the commerce of its forbears, it will be bringing the story of a past maritime era to the city's docks.

The Lois McClure, a museum boat operated by the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, is on a tour commemorating the bicentennial of the War of 1812. As much of that conflict between the nascent United States and Great Britain and its allies was fought on the northeastern waterways, it is upon those waterways that the floating museum is focusing. While Troy, Schenectady, Albany and their environs played a role in the war, Troy was not initially a planned port of call.

The schooner, which began its current journey in June on the Champlain Canal, was supposed to be in Buffalo to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the victory of Commodore Perry at Lake Erie this week. However, the craft has been waylaid by the same element that kept ships at bay centuries ago, and continues to do so today -- poor weather.

"We had hoped to go west earlier and be in Buffalo by about now," said Art Cohn, senior adviser and special projects developer for the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum. "Like the canalmen that came before us and all mariners, you have to roll with the weather."

Advertisement

The Lois McClure has been docked at Waterford since last Thursday. The vessel, which has not been to Troy since 2007, will now be coming to the city for an extended stay to run from July 11 to July 16.

"We are attempting to continue our mission -- to share stories of regional maritime heritage and, particularly, the tangible legacy of shipwrecks that still exists," said Cohn.

The 88-foot craft is a wooden sailing canal vessel that was constructed based on shipwrecks of similar vessels dating to the mid-nineteenth century, at the height of the canal era. The ship would have been operated by a family, who would have lived aboard it, and would have been used to transport a variety of materials to ports in the Great Lakes, Lake Champlain, the Hudson Valley and along the St. Lawrence. Those materials might have included everything from marble dress stone and bricks, to kettles made in Troy, such as has been found by the museum.

Through their archeological operations, the museum has discovered a shipwreck of a canalboat in Lake Champlain that was found lying on its side in 70 to 100 feet of water. The cargo of that ship was kitchen wood stoves and kettles bound for an unknown destination.

"We decided we would recover one kettle with the hope that the kettle, when conserved, might have a maker's mark that would lead us to the identity of the boat and the circumstances of its sinking," said Cohn. When that kettle was recovered, it was found that what had been believed to be one kettle was a kettle with a second kettle and a teapot nested inside, which were not discernible for the rust. All of those implements bore the mark of Noies & Hutton, a Troy business that operated from 1844 to 1846.

"These waterways -- the Hudson River, the Mohawk River, the old canal and the new -- these used to be the interstate highways of their day," said Cohn. "All the commerce moved on these waterways, so Troy was as connected to Burlington, who needed wood stoves, [as it was to] Port Henry and Lake Champlain, who supplied iron ore. We were all interconnected in a very important way by the water and these watercraft."

Visitors will have the opportunity to board the Lois McClure free of charge from July 11 to July 16 at the Troy Dock and Marina, 427 River St. The schooner is open to the public on July 11 and 12, 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.; July 13 and 14, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and July 15 and 16, 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.